Ambassador criticizes view on land policies
Re “South Africa’s land grab,” Opinion, Oct. 1
The South African government has not taken, and will not take, the land of anyone, farmer or otherwise, without compensation or due process of law. To do so would be unconstitutional. Our constitution gives the state the power of eminent domain to take land for a legitimate public purpose.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that eliminating “the social and economic evils of a land oligopoly” is a legitimate public purpose. We are using eminent domain to redress a land oligopoly resulting from generations of legalized racial discrimination.
Under what set of assumptions does a remedy that passes muster under the U.S. Constitution become a recipe for disaster when we apply it under ours?
BARBARA MASEKELA
South African Ambassador
Washington
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